A Mother Who Stayed Behind for Her Son
A BBC report telling the story of North Korean defector Geumseong, who currently lives in Seoul, South Korea, has drawn public attention. In 2019, when he was only ten years old, he arrived alone in South Korea after escaping North Korea.
To cover the cost of her son’s escape, Geumseong’s mother married a Chinese citizen and remained in China. After Geumseong settled in South Korea, he spent more than a year without hearing any news about his mother. Later, through a broker, the two were finally able to reconnect and speak freely for the first time. However, this brief happiness did not last long. While attempting to travel to South Korea, Geumseong’s mother was arrested by Chinese authorities and has now been imprisoned for more than a year. She currently faces the risk of being forcibly repatriated to North Korea.
The fate of Geumseong’s mother reflects the suffering experienced by thousands of people who flee North Korea.
According to South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, before the COVID-19 pandemic more than one thousand North Koreans escaped and resettled in South Korea each year. However, strict border controls during the pandemic caused the number to fall dramatically to its lowest level. Currently, an average of only around 200 people per year are registered as refugees in South Korea.
The Ministry also stated that “the North Korea–China border remains closed and there are no direct escape routes, forcing refugees to travel through countries such as China, Laos, and Thailand before eventually reaching South Korea. As a result, most refugees currently arriving in South Korea are individuals who have spent extended periods in third countries.”
Because there are no direct routes out of North Korea, secretly crossing into China carries enormous risks. Although China is a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol, it does not recognize North Koreans as refugees. Instead, it classifies them as illegal economic migrants and forcibly returns them to North Korea.
A 2014 report by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry stated that China’s policy of forced repatriation may amount to crimes against humanity. As a party to the 1984 Convention Against Torture, China is prohibited from returning individuals to territories where they face a real risk of persecution or torture. UN human rights bodies have repeatedly called on China to strictly uphold the principle of non-refoulement, yet in practice this principle continues to be ignored.
More than 70 percent of North Korean refugees in China are women, many of whom face severe hardships. Like Geumseong’s mother, many women marry Chinese men and live without any legal status under constant police surveillance. Without legal documentation or access to civil rights, they are vulnerable to domestic violence and exploitation, yet have nowhere to seek protection. If they attempt to escape again and are caught, they face the greatest danger of all: forced return to North Korea.
Sources:
- BBC News
- UPI News (March 12, 2026)
- UPI News (January 20, 2026)
